Kodak Moment
by Laurie-ky
Summary: The Sentinel. Pre-slash. Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg. Jim’s eyes are opened by some photographic evidence. A sequel to Film Processing.


**Fandom:** The Sentinel

**Title:** Kodak Moment

**Rating: **Teen

**Type:** Pre-slash Jim Ellison/ Blair Sandburg

**Story Notes:** Written for T. Verano. Beta'ed by Jane Davitt. This story is a sequel to:_ Film Processing._

**Summary: **Jim's eyes are opened by some photographic evidence.

* * * * * * *

**Kodak Moment**

"Megan? You ready to take lunch? I want you to see what I did with the photos you asked me to pick up from Walgreens."

Jim looked up from going through his latest stack of paperwork from investigations completed in the last few weeks. He was separating the loathsome forms into two piles. He tended to plod methodically through his own, imitating the tortoise in that old story by what's his name. The higher paperwork stack consisted of Sandburg's observer reports for Simon, plus some of Jim's paperwork that could be foisted off on the speedy little devil. Sandburg could type faster than Jim any day. But just like that old tale, Jim always finished up before the rabbit did, because the rabbit – Sandburg -- got distracted by the goings on in the bullpen.

Like now. If Sandburg was here, he'd have already jumped up and raced over to Conner's side, demanding to see the pictures her friend was removing from a photo envelope. Jim, however, had no trouble ignoring any curiosity _he_ felt over the oohing and aahing noises he could now hear the two women uttering.

"Mmm, Cinda," Conner said to her tall, grinning friend. "You do very fine work indeed, mate. How did you manage to alter these snaps so they ended up looking like this?"

"There's an enlarging and cropping computer station at the drug store. I couldn't resist using it when I saw the yummy potential right before me," explained the brown haired woman. She pointed to one of the pictures. "Look at the arch, the sensual quality of his neck that just cries out - touch me, lick me, bite me, kiss me."

"Well, I do appreciate fine artwork," Conner quipped. "What do I owe you for the extra expenses?"

"Forget it, Megan. My payment is the pretties I made for myself. Here are your copies, as well as the original double prints you wanted," replied Cinda. "Now we'd better get going before your lunch hour's been frittered completely away. We can drool some more at the Olive Garden over the pictures of your friend." Cinda looked around at the bullpen. "Where is he anyway? Didn't you say he worked for the police as a consultant or something? I made him copies too; he can give them to his sweetie, if he has one."

"Sandy doesn't have anybody special he's seeing. He dates quite a bit because he doesn't tend to keep his girlfriends for very long. He hasn't come in today, but we can leave his copies with his partner." Conner waved her hand towards Jim.

Jim watched covertly as the two women headed his way. So they had some pictures to give Sandburg? That sounded innocent enough but he'd seen the grins on their faces while they were looking at the photos and his cop sense was telling him they were up to something. The way they were talking about those pictures, it was almost like they were discussing a movie star or celebrity.

Conner and her friend stopped at his desk and laid a photo package on top of his paperwork. Jim looked up at them as if he hadn't known they were headed his way. No sense in giving away an advantage to the ene- to his co-worker.

"Jim, this is my friend Cinda; Cinda, this is Sandy's partner, Jim." He nodded his head at the duo, and waited for their next move. "Jim, do me a favor and see that Sandy gets his pics, would you? We've got to run. Oh, and tell him we said thank you."

"Thanks for what?"

"For the loan of his bod-" Cinda didn't complete her sentence because Conner had jabbed her friend in the side with her sharp elbow. Jim knew Conner's elbow was sharp because he'd been the recipient of it a time or two. Or a dozen, or maybe a couple of dozen times. But he wasn't keeping track. Nope. He was all forgiveness and light. And some day, when the time was right… Well, payback's a bitch, so he'd heard. And he'd have an airtight alibi, yes he would.

"Got to run, Jimbo. Thanks, mate." And then Conner was pulling her friend along before she gave up any more clues as to what little bomb was in those photos.

Jim slid the Walgreens envelope into his desk drawer, to keep it safe from prying eyes. He wanted a look at the photographs before he gave them to his partner, and he sure didn't want H or Rafe getting their hands on them. He figured they were embarrassing in some way, and as Sandburg's partner he was obliged to watch the kid's back. At least until he assessed the damage these photos could do. If they were harmless, he'd be the first to tack them up. He grinned, thinking of Sandburg dressed up in the elf suit last Christmas for the Foster Children's Christmas Party the P.D. sponsored. Pictures of Santa's little helper had graced the bullpen for weeks. Sandburg had been perfect for the role and had good-naturedly accepted the teasing the cops had given him. The kids had loved him, as he did his usual magic with the youngsters. After the celebration was over, Jim had pinched his partner's cheek and offered him a candy cane, which Sandburg had accepted with a grin. The cute picture he'd taken of Sandburg sucking on a candy cane in his elf suit was hidden in his bedroom; his partner had no clue Jim had it in reserve in case he really, really needed leverage on the kid.

Jim continued plowing through his paperwork till it was time to pick up Sandburg from the university library. The kid's ride was defunct again and Jim had offered to save him the bus trip. He'd treat the kid to lunch, too. Jim was aware his partner's funds were low right now, and the kid basically worked for free at the P.D., so Jim tried to lighten the load for his buddy whenever he could get away with it. Sandburg had his pride and wouldn't let Jim help him with a whole lot, but he did let Jim feed him, if Jim pitched the idea the right way.

Leaving the bullpen, Jim casually took the photo package out of the drawer and carried it out with his jacket draped over the evidence. No sense in sparking anybody's interest in the pictures till he'd cleared them. Once he was safely in his truck, he opened the package.

He fanned out the pictures and quickly glanced through them. They were from the sightseeing trip Sandburg had taken Conner on, to see the highlights of Cascade. Nice but nothing to drool over… Hold on. He'd just hit the jackpot. And he remembered where that picture had been taken, because he'd been there, too.

* * * * * *

Saturday morning, and Jim was enjoying reading the paper at the table with his second round of coffee handy. Sandburg was sacked out on the couch; he'd fallen asleep after breakfast which had just proved Jim's point that he'd made earlier at their meal. The kid wasn't getting enough sleep lately. His partner had been sawing logs now for an hour and a half and Jim had no intention of waking him up.

The footsteps approaching his door, however, might blow his good intentions to pieces. Jim went to look through the spy-hole and saw Megan Conner getting ready to knock. He opened the door and ushered her in.

"Hi, Jim. Is Sandy ready to go?" Megan inquired and Jim belatedly recalled Sandburg telling him he was going to show Conner the city neighborhoods and attractions. But he'd said this afternoon and it was only nine thirty now. Somebody had gotten his wires crossed.

To answer Conner's question, Jim swept his arm in the couch's direction. "Sleeping Beauty over there thought you were coming this afternoon. You want some coffee, Conner?"

"Sure Jim, thanks. I take mine black." While Jim was in the kitchen fixing her coffee, Conner took out her camera and started taking pictures of his sleeping partner.

"Sandy, wake upppp…" he heard her croon. Sandburg stirred: he stretched and arched his back, and his bathrobe gaped widely open. Jim watched while Conner clowned around taking more pictures of his partner, as the kid opened his eyes and blankly looked at her.

"Megan… yeah… Man, how long was I asleep? Just hold on, let me get dressed and we'll be off." With that greeting taken care of Sandburg stumbled his way into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

* * * * * *

Jim looked at the pictures of his partner arching up from the couch. Blair looked different, somehow. But then he saw the photos that had to be the ones that Conner and her friend had been lusting after. The picture of Blair arching up had been enlarged and cropped so that Blair's upper torso, bared by his opened bathrobe, caught the eye as did his neck, slightly open full lips, and a heavy lidded glance at the camera.

Jesus! Sandburg looked like he'd just had sex. Or was going to have sex. Or was thinking about sex. This picture just plain oozed with sex potential. No way was this going up in the bullpen. Every female in the building would be trying to ambush his partner, and Simon would have a fit over the flirting Jim could see happening if this picture made the rounds of the P.D.

The next one was just as bad. Blair's neck was featured in an even more cropped exposure; Jim stared at the neck he'd seen every day for the last couple of years. It sure as hell had never looked like that previously, he'd swear to it. Blair's neck had never held that sexy arch to it before and had never been so still, so bare, so… so… lickable.

Jim stroked his finger across the photo, following the line of Blair's neck, and felt his worldview shift. He'd always seen Blair as a 'kind of cute' guy. Like puppies are cute, and he'd kidded him sometimes about Blair's puppy dog eyes when Sandburg was begging him to try something or do something with him. He'd ruffle Blair's curls and pat him and grab him sometimes to keep him in order. Hell, he'd even kidded his partner about housetraining him. But he'd never seen Blair as drop-dead gorgeous before seeing these pictures.

Maybe it was because he was captured in these photos and was silent.

Blair talked. He talked a lot. Blair bounced around and he babbled and most of the time it was fun and diverting to listen to him. Occasionally it was just plan annoying and Jim wished he could shut the kid up. And his mind was going places now with that idea.

How. To. Shut. Blair Sandburg. Up. So that Jim could have that gorgeous neck arching up just for him.

Jim began to list the ways he'd do it. He could kiss Blair senseless and then while his partner lay dazed on their bed, he'd nuzzle and lick and softly bite that enticing neck. Or he could gag Blair with his hand, and feel Blair's lips moving against his palm while Jim's other hand stroked Blair's beautiful neck. And then there would be lots of different ways to gag him. A bandanna would work. So would one of his ties, or they could go shopping for a ball gag. And Blair could try and talk but he wouldn't be able to and Jim would lick his neck and kiss along the edges of the gag till Blair was so hard all it would take would be a few rough strokes with Jim's hand and the kid would erupt. And then he'd see that heavy lidded gaze again that was so alluring.

Jim sighed and placed the pictures back in the envelope. Well, he put almost all of them back. He was going to keep the cropped ones for now. Blair didn't need to see how sexy he looked; it would just encourage him in his dating marathons.

_Okay, Ellison_. Jim lectured himself. I_You know you like Blair, hell, you know you love the kid, and now you've realized you're sexually attracted to him to boot. What are you going to do about it?_

Jim decided he was going to go back into the covert ops business. He was bi-sexual, although he usually was more attracted to women. Blair, he figured, was also bi to a certain extent, based on changes in his scent Jim had caught over the years. If he was attracted to Jim, he'd worked hard at dampening it down. Well, Jim was going to work just as hard at lighting the kid back up. Blair wouldn't know what hit him, if Jim planned this right. And, oh, this could be fun. He'd start by getting a little more touchy-feely than he normally was. He was going to concentrate on touching Blair's neck, little squeezes to the nape under his curls. He'd give him pats on the cheek that would slide down the side of his face and continue down his neck. He'd hook his arm around Blair's neck and pull him closer to him. And if Blair didn't respond to him… Well, then he'd back off and live with him as just his friend.

And he'd keep those pictures that revealed the sexy nature of his partner to himself. Upstairs, along with the other cute ones -- including the one of Blair as an elf -- he'd secreted away over the years. He'd thought he'd been keeping them for ammunition against Blair, but now he saw he'd been deluding himself. He'd been keeping them because he loved Blair and had wanted memories of him.

But now, thanks to those pictures that revealed the sexy nature of his partner, he was in lust with Blair Sandburg.

Jim turned the key and started his truck engine. He was going to pick up his partner and start a whole new side to their relationship. And he owed it all to Conner and her friend Cinda. He made a note to himself to try harder to be nice to Conner. Maybe let her take the lead on the next case they worked together. Or let her cuff the next perp they arrested.

As he drove out of the parking garage he thought. "_Blair Sandburg, you can babble as much as you like. I've seen now what you've been hiding and if you'll let me I'll use my senses to drive you wild. And my little elf, I can't wait to touch and stroke that lovely neck of yours_."

Yep, his first move would be to adjust Blair's collar…

The End.


End file.
